Daisy Does America
TBS
and executive producers Courteney Cox and David Arquette invite viewers to tune
in as Daisy Does America (Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET) in a new, unscripted series that
follows Brit actress-comedienne Daisy Donovan as she tours the countryside in
search of no less than "the American Dream." How does the import fare at
bounty-hunting, rap-singing, poker-playing, dog-handling and more?
Donovan means to experience American life in Daisy Does America, half-reality
show and half-sitcom. Each week, she tackles a new area. For the premiere
episode, she worked as a bounty hunter, and previews for Week Two show Daisy
dolled up as a Country Western queen, equal parts Minnie Pearl and Tammy Wynette.
Daisy's specialty is irreverence, and she is quick to point out that which is
ridiculous. A graduate of Edinburgh University in Performing Arts and former
student at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, she has performed in a
range of productions, from Richard III to The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband.
However, she became a celebrity thanks to her Angel of Delight character on the
BBC's The 11 O'Clock Show, which also featured Sacha Cohen ("Ali G"), Daisy's
male counterpart. The Angel conducted interviews with well-known politicians,
often on the street outside the House of Commons, asking seemingly serious
questions that were filled with double meaning. (For instance, while discussing
possible wrongdoing by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, she asked a female
member of Parliament if she would ever "finger" Thatcher.) Following her stint
as the Angel, she became the star of Daisy Daisy, in which she assumed various
jobs in the United States, wedding planner, pimp, and staff member for a
traveling evangelist among them.
Americans can be an egotistical lot, but are we so desperate for attention that
we will endure ridicule for a chance to be on tv? Of course, and we have since
tv began. From dressing in goofy costumes to be on Let's Make a Deal to
revealing sexual peculiarities on Jerry Springer, we are happy to look asinine
for a few minutes of fame, and Daisy Does America taps into that.
It's obvious that the people with whom Daisy speaks are the butt of her jokes,
but they all put up with it. She mugged for the camera after Donna said her
cough wasn't a result of her smoking, and acted bewildered when first exposed to
another bounty hunter's slurred Southern drawl. During an interview with another
agency, she blatantly lied, telling the interviewer she was the one who caught
OJ after the Bronco chase and preferred to do surveillance with a helicopter.
Daisy had apparently done her homework, anticipating the interests of her
vigilante hosts. The mere fact that the U.S. licenses middle-aged, overweight
men to carry weapons and make arrests with no regard to a defendant's
Constitutional rights has got to seem strange to other countries, especially
when these men are glamorized in the movies, played by macho kickboxers or
studly ex-football players. After graduating from her training course, Daisy
showed up looking like she'd tumbled out of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western.
After her training, she knew the get-up was absurd, but the outfit helped her
highlight the rough-and-ready stereotype.
Daisy also makes herself the butt of the joke. In the first episode, this was
most evident when a crew of hunters took her along on a couple of busts.
Initially, Daisy became nauseous when Donna mentioned there might be weapons,
but realized she overreacted when both "skips" (people who jump bail) turned out
to be relatively nice folks who gave themselves up to the hunters peacefully.
It will be interesting that most likely, Daisy's series will play best outside
of the United States, in countries where viewers love to see the American
underbelly exposed. I did laugh a few times at Daisy's antics and the characters
she encountered, but I see such odd ducks every day. I don't need Daisy Donovan
to tell me we're weird, that we behave irrationally. I hope Daisy learns a lot
on her journey, but I already know where she's going.
